Tag Archives: Horror Games

Digital Playground

Noob’s Guide to Splatterhouse

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Introduction: Welcome to the Nightmare

I never played this game before last week, so you get a true Noob’s Guide to Splatterhouse with this article. However, this year, for Frightober, I wanted a theme of time. So, I broke my weeks into past, present, and future. While searching for some games from the past, I discovered this one. While I knew about the controversy (thanks Tipper Gore) surrounding games like Mortal Kombat and Bloodstorm, this one escaped my notice at the time.

A deceptively simple side scrolling beat up em similar to any number of games from my childhood, Splatterhouse, like those other games, requires some skill and strategy. That becomes apparently quite early in the game. The other thing that quickly becomes apparent is the gore level. Zombies vomit puddles from the background while you dismember others with your fist, a machete, and a two by four in the first level. If you can handle that level of cartoon violence, though, you need to play this game.

The Basics: Getting Started

Unfortunately, getting your hands on the game might prove difficult. Unlike other games from that era, Namco hasn’t released this one on modern consoles. RetroGames allows you to play the game using a web based emulator. I tried it out briefly with my Bluetooth controller that I bought from Amazon and it works surprisingly well. Responsive and almost no lag from the game.

I recorded the videos on this page using my Retroid Pocket 4 emulator. As far as I know those are the only two ways to play the game. I found a Namco collection on Steam that offers a toned down almost Chibi version of the game that actually acts as a prequel. So, I suppose if you want to check that out, you can.

Intro cinematic

In terms of story, the above cinematic tells the story of a boy and a girl who take refuge in a spooky old mansion to get out of the rain. She screams and fade to black. Then, the game starts. Depending on your layout, there’s only two buttons (Jump and Attack). The D-Pad (or joystick) moves your character left and right. Don’t let that fool you, though. The game gets tough quick.

Gameplay Breakdown: Fighting Your Way Through

Apologies for the overlay…

As you see in the video, I wasn’t lying. You move (right) mostly, jump and attack. When you pick up a weapon, that becomes your attack and gives you a more gruesome way to kill your enemies. One thing that you need to remember is that some enemies can only be attacked by crouching, like the bats and the carnivorous worms at the end of the video.

Since I died fighting those worms, I can’t give you any more depth to the combat system. From what I’ve read, the mask allows you to collect power ups and there are other weapons in the game like a shotgun. Join me on Twitch once I feel more confident in my abilities and learn about how those change the game.

Tips for Survival: What Every Noob Should Know

The key to these games is that the levels are not random. Enemies attack at the same time and in the same place every time you play the game. Therefore, by remembering these attacks, you can ensure your survival. You only have 3 lives and 4 hearts for each of those lives. And, when you don’t know what you’re doing, those lives expire quickly.

One way to make sure that you get through the levels and conserve your health for the boss fights is to take your time. There’s no reason to rush through a level, accidentally step into a pile of zombie vomit, and waste one of your precious hearts. Above all, take your time, be patient, and understand that you will die quite a bit. That’s all part of the process and makes clearing those tough parts that much more satisfying.

Noob’s Note: just because the game released in the dark ages before save states doesn’t mean that we have to suffer. We live in the future and the emulators allow us to set up save states. Use those to your advantage, too.

What Makes Splatterhouse a Classic: Why Should You Play?

Okay, great, a side scrolling beat em up that’s going to take me some time and effort to get good. Yes, and, many of the horror games that we play today owe their existence to this humble beginning. The gore of those games run red because Splatterhouse crawled in the ooze of zombie vomit. From the beginning, the game throws you into this story with little explanation. That sets the tone.

Who are you? Who is the girl? What is this mask? Will you ever get the answer to any of those questions? Only by playing the game can you know for sure. Also, the sounds of the game with the midi horror theme and disgusting sound effects for the various ways you’ll kill and be killed add to the overall atmosphere.

If you’re a retro gaming nerd like me, you need to play this game. If you do and figure out how to beat those worms at the end of that first level, leave a comment or email me.

The Verdict: Noob’s Guide to Splatterhouse

Even if the actual gameplay is nothing special or original. So what if the introduction of the story leaves something to be desired. The horror theme of the game provides enough of an incentive to keep coming back for more. And, if you want a challenge in this era of constant save states and infinite lives, even better.

Get out there and play the game. If you found this Noob’s Guide to Splatterhouse helpful, let me know.

Digital Playground

My Case for Fatal Frame

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Note: Banner taken from here.

Introduction

I came up with the idea for these articles this week in a bit of a panic. When I got sick a few weeks ago and then slogged through the madness of Homecoming while still a bit under the weather, I realized that I neglected the page for two weeks. While not unusual for us around here, at least for the last year I made this page a priority. So, for Spooktober, a collection of articles about the old horror games I used to play. Therefore, I present my case for Fatal Frame.

As what, exactly? Well, let me answer that question with some more exposition. I wrote in my last article that Fatal Frame ranks as my favorite horror game ever made. So, maybe I just write one of my patented articles where I try to convince you that you need to like the game as much as I do. Because, honestly, what else makes sense at this point?

This Game is Scary

I told a story about how I played Silent Hill in surround sound and ambient sounds in the game creeped me out. Resident Evil made me jump more than once. But, only this game kept me on the edge of my seat through the entire game.

So, wait, let me get this right. Psychological massacre horror? One moment of scary? Zombies, a deep rooted fear from childhood? A couple of jump scares? But, a game about a camera that captures the souls of ghosts with a slightly punny title? That one gets your vote as truly scary.

Yep.

Just sitting here and thinking about it. The creepy little ghost kids still give me chills.

The Game is Pretty

Those who come to the page often know that I don’t care much about graphics. I feel compelled (for some reason) to clarify that statement. It depends on the game. Mario? I want the stylized graphics of my youth. A world and story built on atmospheric horror? Give me the goods. This game came out on the PS2, which offered greater graphical capabilities than the PS1 and it showed. Sure, they smartly hid some of the limitations behind darkness and mist. But, even so, the ghosts came through enough to make them legitimately scary.

The Story is Solid

Granted, I don’t remember the entire story. But, I remember the relevant parts. You are tasked with releasing the souls of ghosts using a camera. I know. It sounds silly. And, I admit that when I first heard about the game I thought it might be a joke game. But, the game is no joke. I wanted to keep playing to understand more about these people I met in the afterlife. And the main story provided enough intrigue and suspense that I cared what happened and worked actively to undo the damage.

The Verdict

All of these years later, I haven’t played a horror game that affected me as much as Fatal Frame did. A student asked me again what my favorite video game was and I replied, without hesitation, “Portal 2.” Fatal Frame does much of what Portal 2 did right. It might just be in my top 5 games.

Digital Playground

Noob’s History With Silent Hill

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Introduction

This year left me scrambling a bit. I kept current through the beginning of the year, but then a bout with (maybe) Covid plus homecoming threw me off my schedule. I finished the comics reviews for this month last week and then hastily crafted a plan for the rest of Spooktober, which may go into the first week of November. Oh well, time is relative. In any case, let’s start this trip with Noob’s history with Silent Hill.

As you know, Chris and I recorded last month. The recording came out less than ideal, but we enjoyed it so much that we planned for the rest of the year. Because I came up with the idea for Spooktober last year and more or less kept the page running for an entire year, I made the suggestion that we talk about horror themes in pop culture this month; video games, books, movies, and TV shows. We meant to record today, but that slipped my mind. Thursday, it is.

What’s the Deal with This Game?

Unlike Resident Evil, which dealt with my favorite horror sub genre of Zombies, or Fatal Frame, which brought my wife and I together as she watched while I played, I discovered Silent hill through other means. Way back in the ancient history of the internet, before social media algorithms threatened the very fabric of reality, you needed to search for things. As a result, many search engines populated the landscape. No Bing, but Google popped up pretty early. My engine of choice was Yahoo! until Google became the behemoth that we all know. There’s something to be said for algorithms.

I go to my grave arguing that Ask Jeeves is the best name and logo for a search engine.

Even with all those search engines, I still learned about gaming news from my favorite gaming page of the time. IGN. Now a meme, at the time, well it was a meme then, too. But, in addition, it was the go to page for entertainment for almost a decade. During one of my visits to the page, I saw an article about Silent Hill. A horror game based more in psychological scares? Sounds like my type of game.

Journey into Silent Hill

I Yahoo’d (doesn’t sound as natural as Googling) the game to get more information. Everything I found only solidified my desire to play the game. I rented it via Gamefly, and fired it up. At the time, I hooked my game systems to my surround sound and this game paid huge dividends. I have a core memory of hearing a sound go from the front speakers to the rear and it scared the daylights out of me.

I also remember my first encounter with Pyramid Head. He is the sword wielding boss of the game with a Pyramid as a head or covering his head. I’m not entirely sure which. Perhaps I should ask Jeeves. Then, just as abruptly, I have no additional memories of the game. I either played it just that once or only one or two more times and then never again.

The Verdict

Noob’s history with Silent Hill is shockingly short. Sometimes that happens. I don’t dislike the game, mind you. I simply never got into the game like I did Resident Evil or Fatal Frame. Sometimes the idea of something is better than the actual thing, if that makes sense. I still keep track of the new games. I consider picking one up every now and again. If that happens, keep an eye on the page for my thoughts.